


Lost, Found, and Lost Again

by Psycada



Category: Dororo (2019), Dororo (Anime)
Genre: Friendship, Listen Daigo had to be like just a small stream ride away from Jukai's, Meaning Tahomaru had to be nearby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-25 03:36:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17717303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psycada/pseuds/Psycada
Summary: Hyakkimaru finds a friend by the local stream.





	Lost, Found, and Lost Again

Hyakkimaru had never been able to interact with the other children that lived in the village- rather, none of them interacted with him. It only took a few moments for them to grow tired of his unawareness and leave, and by now both parties had simply learned the other wasn’t interested. The part where their interaction ended tended to be when Hyakkimaru tried writing in the dirt to them, finding it rare that other kids had learned that skill this early on.

Papa would always fret over this, gently giving him a push towards any new client that was around his age. At a certain point he had stopped, realizing the situation would just keep repeating until the client left with their parents. Hyakkimaru didn’t  _ mind  _ this, content with simply meandering around the woods and sensing all the little white souls in it that no one else bothered to notice. More than just the birds and trees and obvious things Papa had written about, things that were mere dots in his senses, always underfoot, yet somehow found a reason to keep crawling about in lumps of green. He could watch them for hours, always finding some new shape of white each time he thought he had seen every possible kind.

The water was where these things enjoyed living the most- in fact, some were even smaller than he could perceive, only sensible for a fraction of a second before disappearing out of his view. So Hyakkimaru sat by a stream along the dirt path, quietly watching this secret drama unfold. Larger souls would pass behind him but never bother him, giving him the peace of mind that he could sit uninterrupted.

Until something  _ did  _ interrupt him. A soul just a bit smaller than him, worry emanating from his, pulling at his sleeve. It wasn’t like he could answer whatever their question was though, and he could only hope they got the idea soon enough. For a moment they hesitated, holding his shoulder, before Hyakkimaru pointed down the road. There, there was the town that actually had things he could interact with. You didn’t have to bother him.

The soul seemed to understand, running along the dirt path before stopping. Hyakkimaru could sense a sort of apprehension, uncertainty, before the soul ran back and sat by his side. 

Lost and too scared to continue searching, he thought.

...He could tolerate a presence, he guessed. They seemed too nervous to go anywhere, anyway. But really, it wasn’t that hard to follow a road, was it? Now, instead of finding civilization, they were trying to interact with him again, judging by the slowly growing confusion emanating from them. 

They’d grow tired eventually. Instead, Hyakkimaru simply reached into the stream and dug up a wiggling hard shell, earning a flash of interest from the stranger. That sort of feeling was familiar; most souls weren’t able to find other living things so easily. He wasn’t actually sure how  _ they _ saw, but he could certainly see the faint white burning under bits of green and silt. He could also sense the want to get out of his grip as he held the creature, the instinct to snip at his face, giving him the hint to simply turn its claws the other way so he could bite into it. 

His snack was suddenly jerked away from his mouth as flashed from the soul, similar to Papa getting onto him for eating things “raw”. The soul held it in their hands, concern not directed at him but at the creature. Some sort of interest surrounded it, and as Hyakkimaru tried to take it back a much more protective attitude shielded it from his grasp. Why was this soul stealing his food if they weren’t going to eat it? Even when Papa took things away from his mouth (if only to give it back later) Hyakkimaru could sense that he wasn’t planning on keeping them living.

They were running a hand along its back, for some reason. Now that the crab was aware of his hunger it knew to pinch at his hand whenever he tried to take it back, which certainly wasn’t helping the fact the soul was still preventing him from eating this thing. At one point exasperation spiked and they grabbed his hand, bringing it to the crab but not letting him grab it. Just running it along the scratchy back. 

Maybe he’d appreciate this more if his hand was real. He reached back to the stream for another crab and- woah woah  _ woah wait- _

The soul had suddenly wrapped their arms around him, taking his hands into their own, putting them into a cupped position. He wasn’t used to this, the unexpected physical contact from someone other than his Papa, making him forget about eating his crab in the first place. They were taking a much more careful approach with him- they kept a hand under his and used the other to slowly tilt the little crab onto him. It stayed for a while, tough legs poking at his hands, before eventually growing tired and crawling back to the safety of the ground. 

As much as Hyakkimaru both appreciated and nervously allowed the care, he still couldn’t see why this was so fascinating to the other soul. They sat next to him with expectant joy, Hyakkimaru unsure how to respond. What, did they want more crabs to look at? He could easily do that, and he could get a lot more than just the ones at the shore. 

He gave a few taps to the soul, before standing up and wading into the stream. In the middle was a rock that gave an overhang within the water, Hyakkimaru sticking his arm underneath and leaving it there for a moment. After he felt some vibration, he pulled it back up to reveal multiple small souls attached. Usually he did this for a quick snack- these were young souls, not as big as the ones that ventured out. Easier to chew. But for now, he could entertain the other with these. 

And it seemed he did right- when he held his arm out an overwhelming excitement poured from the soul. Almost immediately they came closer, bouncing up and down, face close to all the little crabs attached to him. Why were they so fascinated with these things? The only thing he found in them was it was a more fulfilling meal than plants, or that they sometimes clung to his nose if he didn’t stick them into his mouth right. But if they wanted more, he could certainly supply things a bit more fascinating than just crabs.

Going back to the stream and shaking off the other crabs, he dug through the bottom until he pulled out a much more articulated creature, more focused on swimming away than pinching him. It still had a hard shell, giving Hyakkimaru something to grip, rather than the slippery skin of fish. Again, he showed it to the soul and got another reaction of curiosity and happiness. It felt nice- another soul found some kind of common ground with him, instead of ignoring him like every other had. Some kind of warmth radiated between them, he thought, as if a connection was already there.

Hyakkimaru reached out a hand to invite the soul into the stream- they’d see a lot more creatures if they just came out in the first place. Instead he was met with hesitation, a sort of underlying fear of something. About what? Water wasn’t going to hurt them. Didn’t they want to see more creatures? He came closer and tried taking their hand, giving a tug to say it was fine to come in. The soul took a moment to grab something around its legs, taking a tentative step into the water. 

Really, they could move it a bit faster. Reaching his hand into the water, he pushed some towards the soul, earning a little bit of annoyance. Was he that bothered by water? He did it again, feeling a sort of mischievousness, now earning a splash  _ back.  _ Except the soul also had a tint of mischief to it, the two now giving each other increasingly bigger splashes until Hyakkimaru felt himself slip and grab the other soul to keep balance. Of course, they also fell, the water thankfully only being waist high and temporarily submerging him. The other soul emerged briefly stupefied, before it turned to an absolute glee, feeling like the question, “Why didn’t I do this before?”

Hyakkimaru held up a stick- the creatures on it actually being numerous, literally thousands, all coming together to make a community. This was what fascinated  _ him- _ he could sense them, so many uncountable creatures, stuck together to make a squishy substance that stuck to this twig. The soul found a fascination with it too, leaning in closer. Could they see all the things that made up this one substance? All the little souls creating one? Maybe they did and maybe they didn’t, but the emotions radiating from them could only give Hyakkimaru a sort of giddiness he didn’t think he could get anywhere else.

For a while he dug up creatures to show the soul, varied collections of small shells and crawling things, some so small the soul had to hold his hand up to their face, until they sat down by the edge after Hyakkimaru ran out of things to present. But it was still nice to be together, to have something else pay attention to him for once. Even if the soul was simply observing the water creatures, which had mustered to courage to come back to the now muddy waters, Hyakkimaru could still feel a string of attention directed towards him as he came to sit down as well. As the clouded water settled back to a clear he could now sense another bit of entertainment, from the soul watching the creatures crowd around Hyakkimaru’s legs, nipping off miniscule things so small even Hyakkimaru couldn’t have a clear sense of them.

The soul got up was now digging through the bottom of the stream, but instead of pulling out other living creatures, the soul now held a handful of remnants- the hard things they were made of, only flecks of life remaining on them. They then came back and sat down next to him, pouring the remnants in a pile in front of them, then shifting them around. Some kind of long green object was being passed through them, connecting them in some way. Another odd thing other souls seemed to find important, he guessed. 

As he watched he noticed a sort of emptiness within the soul- not emotional, but more literal- of hunger. He could sense the discomfort of an empty stomach, familiar, as he had sensed it from other souls in the past. But with the current season, there was enough to survive well enough. 

...Did this soul not know anything about feeding itself? Maybe they didn’t want to eat the river creatures, but there was clearly a patch of green right by the stream- berries, Papa had told him. He had memorized its location long ago, and at this time of year it’d have lots of green orbs for picking. How could the soul not see it? 

Maybe he just needed some encouragement. Scooting over to the bush, he grabbed a few handles and came back to hand them to the soul, only to find they wouldn’t accept them. Uncertainty ebbed from them, though with a hint of curiosity. What, had they never seen berries? If they were hungry, surely they’d at least try it, right? To give an example he took a bite of a few, then offered them again. See? No poison. There was no reason to keep being hungry with perfectly good food right in front of you.

It took a moment of hovering the berries in front of them, but the soul eventually took them, Hyakkimaru watching the green dissolve into white. They started taking them more eagerly after a taste, a sense of relief coming over them. Hunger dissipated, and for a moment they sat together, the soul messing with their shells and the berries slowly disappearing. It was nice, peaceful. Hyakkimaru enjoyed the feeling, this relation, between them. 

Soon the soul turned to him, looking like it was trying to communicate. He appreciated the gesture, but he wasn’t sure how far this soul was going to get with that. Papa had been the only one to actually talk with him, the rest of souls here simply ignoring him once they found he couldn’t answer back. 

But it seemed the soul  _ was  _ trying. A hand reached forward and drew undetectable lines on his face, Hyakkimaru knowing it was writing but unable to actually feel where the lines were. He tried directing the hand to the dirt, where Papa normally communicated with him. 

And to his utter delight, the soul understood and started writing. 

He had to stop himself from trying to read the word before it was done, and as he laid his hand onto the dirt he felt the syllables: Ta-Ho-Ma-Ru. Tahomaru! A name! He wiped away the dirt and wrote his own, enjoying the idea of some other person in the world actually knowing his name. 

Tahomaru took a moment to focus on their odd string of shells, before taking Hyakkimaru’s hand and placing it along a longer shell- in it, the soul had etched Hyakkimaru’s name. Leaning over, they tied it around his neck, before suddenly pulling him in for a hug. Even if the only other person to ever do this to him was Papa, now he found it even felt different with another person. Lighter, bouncier, a sort of thanks for looking after them. 

Before he could write something else out, he noticed the dirt sliding a bit easier, and the discomfort he sensed from Tahomaru and the tapping along his body told him rain had come, and was only going to grow heavier. He took Tahomaru’s arm, pointing in the direction of the village, the rain starting to soak into his hair as they broke into a run together to home.

* * *

 

They arrived at the medical house completely soaked (both from rain and never drying off from the stream), but not minding it at all. Papa  immediately fussed over him and nearly smothered him with a towel, before noticing the apparent guest and hastily offering another to him. The fireplace was lit, meat placed around it, and the two were sat down around it. 

Hyakkimaru assumed, as they sat around the fireplace, that they were talking about the recent events. Of playing in the stream, the miniscule creatures, the odd necklace that Tahomaru could probably explain the purpose of later. Papa was glad he had finally made a friend, judging from the kindly feeling from him that wrapped around the two. It was odd, despite knowing Tahomaru for only this day, that Hyakkimaru couldn’t help but feel some connection. Like he was supposed to know them long ago, but never got the chance. Like he was now making up for that lost time.

Like a piece was suddenly added to a puzzle he hadn’t realized existed. 

It was all warm and he wanted to just… keep that feeling. To let this scene play on longer than it needed to, if only to make sure he could memorize the feeling. Is this what Papa had been aiming for when he kept encouraging him to make friends? He could understand that, now, if it meant this sort of feeling each time. As the meat finished cooking he simply relished in the feeling, feeling the two souls by him eat and conversate. Even if they weren’t talking to him, he still felt included.

Papa was suddenly alerted of something, Hyakkimaru looking to the other side of the room to see an unfamiliar soul. A patient? No, Tahomaru recognized them and ran over to greet them. But the unfamiliar soul simply ebbed with an almost nonchalant concern, not directed at Tahomaru. They just started tugging them away, despite their reluctance, not caring for their new friendship. A feeling of simple obligation came to mind.

Wait, wait, they could stay just a while longer, right? But Tahomaru was still lead out of the house, away from the unfinished food, away from him. Please, just a bit longer. Tahomaru was then hoisted onto a much larger soul, a horse, as Papa had told him. It’s all too soon, he felt, but Papa put a hand on his shoulder, keeping him grounded, and Hyakkimaru could only watch as the soul slowly shrank into the distance. He didn’t know why. He didn’t know why they had to leave so soon. He can feel just a hint of it- of the soul looking back at him, some kind of regret directed at him but being pulled away.

And he had the feeling he wasn’t going to see them for a while.

**Author's Note:**

> On a sidenote, the thing that Hyakki holds up that's made of a bunch of souls is bryozoa! They're odd little water creatures that makes these jelly-like colonies on sticks in streams or rivers, I feel like Hyakki would like them being so many little things in one.


End file.
